Thunder and Lightning
by TheSweetestThing
Summary: Ron, ever the Hero, comforts Hermione during a storm. Yes, Hermione is afraid of storms. Get over it. And trust me, this is incredibly fluffy. R&R! RHr forever! Fluff is good!


Hi everybody! (Hi Doctor Nick!)

So, I wrote this a few months ago and decided to type it up. Even though I have homework. And this is my last year of high school. Lol, I'm so lazy. Oh well.

So yeah, Hermione is really scared of storms (in this fic at least). So am I, that's why I wrote it when there was a storm and I was home alone. Unfortunately for me, there was no Ron to turn to for comfort. But that's beside the point.

I'd like to make an announcement. If you hate R/Hr, then don't come in here and read it. Or flame it. Go to whatever ship you like and have happy times. Leave us alone!

Disclaimer: I think the reason why my last story was poorly reviewed was 'cos I had the cheesiest disclaimer. So here goes. I hereby announce that I don't own Harry Potter or any related characters, books, movies, action figures, etc. etc. Thank you.

Once again, I'd like to shout out to the Girls at Isn't it Obvious for their understanding and obsession. You guys rock my world!

It was a cold rainy night, where most of the students of Gryffindor were asleep. Few, however, were still awake. They were doing homework or playing games. Among these people were Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter.

The trio was playing Wizard's chess. Or two were, and the other was watching the proceedings absently while reading a book at the same time.

"Ha!" Ron said loudly, standing and raising his arms in victory.

"You win." Harry smirked, amused. After all these years, Ron still found it a personal victory when he won a match against Harry. Even though Harry had never won against Ron in his life.

Hermione shook her head. "You _always_ win, Ron."

"Yeah. But that's beside the point. It's still fun to give your best mate a wallop and know he'll be back for more." he chuckled.

A few minutes later, when the conversation had trailed away, Harry stood up.

"Well, that's it for me…" he yawned, "I'm off. Night."

"G'night Harry."

"Night." they watched him walk up the boy's staircase. "Are you going to bed?" Hermione asked.

"Nah. Think I'll stay up for a bit more." Ron replied.

"Okay. Goodnight." she smiled.

"Night." he smiled back.

When Hermione reached her room, she changed and brushed her teeth before sliding under the warm covers of her four-poster. It wasn't long before she fell asleep, and as soon as her consciousness drifted away, a blinding flash seeped through the hangings. Lightning. Which meant the threatening storm had started.

It wasn't twenty minutes later when the storm was getting closer to the castle, baring down on it with thunder and lightning. One particularly loud crack signaled the storm's entrance to the area. The next crack woke one Gryffindor. Hermione was scared awake, sitting up and panting at the loudness.

Only minutes later another flash was followed by a bang, and she hid under the covers.

'This is useless.' she thought. 'Why am I so scared? And why am I acting like such a child?' Then another loud crack made her jump. 'That's it. I'm out of here. At least in the common room it's light and the fire's comforting.'

She tiptoed down the flight of stairs in her nightdress, bumping into the wall when the storm made its presence known again.

Finally reaching the bottom, she found no one around. That is until she saw a mop of red hair from over the back of a two-seater in a corner. She sighed.

"Ron?" she called. His head whipped around.

"Oh. You scared me Hermione." he stood up. "What's wrong?"

A large boom ripped through the common room. Hermione jumped visibly, "Storm woke me up." she explained, turning pink.

"Are you scared?" he asked, a look of concern on his face. She nodded. "Well, come sit over here then. I'll protect you." he smiled softly. She turned a little pinker, then went to join him on the couch. "Come 'ere." he urged, putting an arm around her and pulling her closer.

"Thankyou." Hermione said quietly.

"No problem. I used to be scared of storms too. But I grew out of it, I guess." he admitted. Another loud crack filled the room and Hermione buried her face in Ron's chest, wrapping her arms around his waist. He started rubbing her back soothingly, trying to calm her down.

Ten minutes later and the storm wasn't letting up. Hermione just kept getting more scared at each thump. She couldn't even stop when Ron started rocking back and forth.

"Ron?"

"Yeah?"

"Thankyou."

"For what?"

"For protecting me."

"Don't worry about it." He said, a little embarrassed.

"No, really. You're a good friend." She told him, before the loudest clap of thunder sounded off. She tried to get closer, but she was as close as possible to him.

"Here." he offered, lifting her up a little so she could sit in his lap sideways. She felt a surge of embarrassment run through her as he pulled her close.

"Thanks." she whispered, as her body went rigid.

"Hey." he said, noticing her stiffness. "It's not scary, come on. It's okay."

"It's not the storm." she admitted, then wanted to slap herself.

"Then what is it?" he asked, confused.

"It's…you just…I, um." she stuttered, unable to look him in the eye.

"What's wrong?"

"You're being…you would never do this for anyone else." she tried.

"You mean…I'm sorry. I…I was just trying to comfort you. I didn't mean to upset you. Here." He tried to lift her off. She wouldn't budge.

"No. I don't have a problem with it. Really. I just have to know…is there an ulterior motive behind this?"

"I'm not. I'm not trying to take advantage of you, if that's what you mean. I thought I was helping. But I guess I was kind of enjoying it…" he explained. "I'm sorry."

"You don't need to be sorry. I just had to know. I was sort of enjoying it too, but I felt like I was taking advantage of you. Until this, at least." She motioned to her seating arrangement.

An awkward silence fell over them, neither one daring to look at the other. Then, Ron's hand was suddenly sliding up her back. His other was taking her hand. She turned her head quickly to look at him. He was giving her a meaningful look.

"I want you to know." he began. "I've wanted to tell you for so long. I love you."

The impact of those words hit Hermione like a tonne of bricks. He didn't just like her. He _loved_ her.

She threw her arms around his neck.

"I love you too!" she cried, then pulled back to look him in the eyes. He leaned forward slightly and his lips fell upon hers. From here, there was no going back.

A few months later, another storm hit Hogwarts. Hermione walked over to Ron and sat in his lap, snuggling up to him.

"You're not still afraid of storms, are you?" he asked.

"No. But I still love you." She grinned, and they spent the rest of the night like they had the first time. Only much happier…

So, what did you think? Corny, I know. But I just love fluff too much, and you can't have fluff without being corny, really. If you think otherwise, or you agree, or you have another reason, please review. I'm not without begging! Please please please please please please please! Okay, that's enough.

Thank you all very much!


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